


Darkness Alight

by Tphantomhive13



Series: Darkness in the Mist [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Daddy Issues, Don't Like Don't Read, Drama & Romance, Epic Friendship, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mommy Issues, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Oh my gods Aphrodite - Freeform, Prepare for puns, Slow Build, Swearing, Teenage Drama, Transgender, Yaoi, i'll add tags as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-19
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 10:37:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5245148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tphantomhive13/pseuds/Tphantomhive13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nyome Walker always knew she was not normal. She stuck out like a sore thumb, something you don't need when you live in New York. Her close bond with her Dad is becoming nonexistent and she mourns the "death" of her Mother every year on her birthday. But what happens when everything Nyome thought she knew suddenly came crashing down on her when she went on that stupid field trip to Coney Island and thrust into the world of Demigods, Gods/Goddesses, and Monsters? And what the hell does Aphrodite mean that she wants her "ship to sail?"</p>
<p>I know I suck at summaries, sorry, but it's good I promise</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: My Car Meets A Feathery Demise

You know, sometimes I wished that the myths and fiction I read in school could be real. It sounded like a great idea, to escape what we call reality and just go on a magical adventure where you can ride unicorns and slay dragons. But, not anymore, I wish that my life was anything but what I read in school. Why? You'll find out, but first, allow me to introduce myself.

I'm Nyome Urania Walker, but I prefer Nyome or Walker, call me by my middle name and you'll see a side of me you'll never forget.

I'm 16 years old and a sophmore at this Private School called The Spence School. It's my third school I've been to, and I planned on keeping it that way.

Why did I move to different schools?

I'm not troubled per say, I just got unlucky...especially during summer field trips. Just to give you an example, the last school I attended had a trip to Long Island and we had to stay over at a hotel overnight before going back. Let's just say, there was a creeper, the cops were involved, and I have no idea how I snuck past the chaperones without being seen.

I have a lot of problems though, and it's not surprising to know that about me when you look at me, my track and medical record, and my family. My track record is pretty obvious, as for my medical record..well...I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia at a very young age. Christopher, my Dad, got me the medication for my ADHD but I had to suffer my Dyslexia on my own. Then around 3 years ago I was diagnosed with Insomnia. I literally sleep an hour or two hours tops every night, which is why I have these permanent dark circles under my eyes. A bunch of shrinks and doctors tried to find the cause of my insomnia, but they came up with nothing and I couldn't help them either. For some weird reason, I'm just super energized at night and I'm just tired during the day. I joke around with Clyde, my best and only friend, that I'm supposed to be nocturnal.

I dress differently too. I wear my beloved Batman hoodie twenty-four/ seven/three-sixty-five, even in the summer. You know that painful feeling you get when your foot falls asleep and it's starting to wake up? Yeah, that's what I feel when the sunlight touches my skin. That's why I wear my hoodie, to conceal as much skin as I can. The only skin that gets touched by the sun is whatever is exposed from my ripped black leggings and my face. The sunlight also bothers my eyes so I wear sunglasses all the time, I even got a doctor's note that said I could because some of my teachers would give me a hard time about it.

And my family? Well, I already told you about Christopher. No, he's my biological Dad, but I call him by his first name because we aren't close anymore. If you met us when I was little, I would call him "Daddy" and "Dad." But as I grew older, his nightclub started to take up all his time and after he gained his fortunes, we just called each other by name. He doesn't really pay attention to me unless it's my birthday or if the school called him about my terrible grades and the fights I’ve been in. You're probably wondering about my mom. I never really knew her and whenever I asked, Christopher told me that she died after she gave birth to me. All I have about her is a faint memory of a smile, a warm embrace, and this silver bracelet I got as a gift for my twelfth birthday. The bracelet is cool though, it's one of those bracelets that has a ring attached to it. Attached to the ring is a onyx gem that's cut to look like a crescent moon and it's wicked. I never take it off....but I did once to shower and let me tell you, I never felt so exposed and defenseless. So now I keep it on my left wrist all the time and the silver doesn't even tarnish, which makes everything easier for me.

Okay, now you know enough about me to at least get through this part of my story. Clyde and I were sitting in my car, following the bus to get to Coney Island. Why is going to an ancient amusement park important to education? It's not, The Spence School has its good standing students attend this field trip every year in May to "unwind" from the school year. I just barely managed to pass with a C+ in all my classes, which was hard as hell to get because my Dyslexia sucks. Why are we in my car and not on the bus? Well, I’m on probation with the teachers, so that means if I start anything, whether it be raise my voice or sock a dude in the face, then I’m getting sent home. Since I have my license and my own a car, I decided to just drive myself home to make it convenient for everyone. Clyde didn’t want me to be alone in my car, and he didn’t want to deal with the assholes on the bus for making fun of his funny limp due to some sort of muscular disease in his legs, so he decided to ride with me and jam out to my tunes on my IPod. Also, he always wears this dark gray beanie and he hates that teachers give him a hard time about it, never said why he had to wear the beaning though. When Clyde finished his air drum solo, I felt his eyes on me.

“What’s up Nyome?” He asked. Clyde has this weird ability of reading my emotions, it’s kinda freaky.

I stopped the car at a red light and faced him, taking in his concerned expression. I can’t just deny that I don’t have something on my mind, so I just told him the truth. “I don’t know,” I answered with a shrug, “I just have this bad feeling.”

“Yeah? You’ll be fine, it’s probably just your nerves. You are on probation, Nyome, that’s some pressure right there for ya to behave.”

I scoffed. “If anyone picks on you, I won’t hesitate to sock them in the face.”

“Nyoooommmeeee they’re not worth it!” Clyde whined...which kinda sounded like a whimper-bleat...it’s hard to describe though.

“They have no right to bully you!” I jumped when a car honked at me and I quickly caught up to the bus, “When those assholes have a problem with you, they have a problem with _me_. Mama bear will always protect her cubs.”

He laughed. “Alright _Mama bear_.”

We joked around until we found a parking spot at Coney Island. My bad feeling was getting worse and since I stopped taking my medication for my ADHD, I was very noticeably edgy and twitchy. Clyde must have had a bad feeling too because when he climbed out my gray 2015 Mitsubishi  Outlander (I love this car, thank god Christopher got it for my birthday), he paled and started to look absolutely frightened.

“Clyde, you alright?” I asked him, quickly getting out of my car.

“Yeah! I’m fine!” He quickly answered, awkwardly laughing.

He’s such a terrible liar. Even if he kept a straight face, he would look guilty after he lied to you. But I let it go and we continued on our way and got on a few rides. Call me paranoid, but I was constantly looking over my shoulder and on guard in between rides. I noticed that all of the chaperones were spread out, I’ve always seen a teacher around whenever I looked. They were betting that I would mess up while I was on probation, gee, thanks a lot. I thought teachers were supposed to believe in students.

“Um, Nyome, I think we should go to our checkpoint spot,” Clyde announced, suddenly stopping.

I stop and raised my eyebrow. “Um, I think it’s a little too early for that.” I checked the time on my IPod to see that it was 11:30. We’re supposed to be at the checkpoint spot at 2 o’clock. “Yeah.”

I looked up to see that Clyde was staring at something like he was looking Death in the face. I followed his gaze to see three pretty attractive looking women staring at us, well me specifically, from a distance. And it wasn’t that regular staring I usually get, it was those creepy predator stares you see stalkers give in a cop show or something. My gut feeling made me feel like my stomach fell to the ground.

Clyde grabbed my wrist and started dragging me away. “Hey Nyome I’ll let you punch someone in the face if it means we can get the hell out of here,” He said.

I tugged my wrist out of his grip. “Woah! Hold up! First you tell me to behave and now you want me to fail my probation so we can leave? What’s going on?” I demanded, stopping him and forcing him to look me in the eye.

“I’ll tell you-”

“What’s the matter hun?” A woman’s voice purred.

I turned around to see the three women surrounding us. How the hell did they get here so fast? “Nothing, we’re just talking,” I answered, getting in front of Clyde.

The one to my right, a black hair, dark-eyed woman stepped closer. “Doesn’t look like that to me, halfling.”

“Nyome, let’s go!” Clyde whispered in my ear.

“Oh! I just remembered! We have to go check-in with one of our professors! Excuse me ladies, but my friend here will have a panic attack if we don’t-” I grabbed Clyde’s hand and tried to get around the brunette woman in front of me, the one who spoke first.

“You won’t get out of this one alive godling,” the third woman hissed, “Now, give it to us.”

I turned and saw that woman, a brunette with storm gray eyes, start to have feathers appear on her body. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, nor do I have what you want,” I started to say and I saw as the others started to grow feathers, “So….Bye!” I shoved the black-haired woman out of the way and dragged Clyde behind me as I sprinted.

“Nyome! They’re on our tails!” Clyde screamed as we weaved through the crowd.

“Ya think?! What the hell are they?!” I demanded, shoving a little kid  out of my way (Normally I wouldn’t do that but in this situation, but I didn’t have the time to wait for the kid to move) and parkoured over the exit gate.

I heard screeching above us, and I instinctively put my right arm over my head. I hissed when talons grazed my arm through the sleeve of my hoodie, and I quickly unlocked my car.

“Harpies! They’re Harpies and they’re after your head!” Clyde explained as he jumped into my car, me quickly following suit, “Now drive!”

“I can’t just speed out of here! Are you crazy?!” I screamed as I backed out as quickly as I could, almost hitting a few people.

“The police is the last of your worries! Ocypete, Aello, and Celaeno will kill you before you get arrested!” I heard him give a panicked beat, like a goat. “I should’ve known they would’ve targeted you! Chiron warned me about them being out and about! Now you’re arm is hurt and we’re being chased!”

“Wait, what?! You knew this would happen?! Explain yourself Clyde!”

“I will! Left! Turn left!”

Something, or someone apparently, landed on the hood of my car and started to scratch at it. “Godling you won’t get away!” One of the things screeched.

“THEY’RE RUINING MY CAR! CLYDE I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!” I screamed, taking a sharp left in an attempted to shake them off of my car.

"I'm sorry!" Clyde apologized and he screamed some more directions.

I glanced over to him to see him taking off his pants. "NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO UNDRESS CLYDE! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR NAKED-"

"Calm down! I'm a satyr! I have fur so you won't see anything!"

"YOU'RE HALF-GOAT?!" I thank myself for trying so hard in Mythology class. "YOU HAVE A SHIT TON OF EXPLAINING TO DO CLYDE SANDERS!"

I heard metal groaning and my heart sunk to my feet. I looked up to see that the hood of my beloved car getting torn off.

"Ahahahahahahahaha! We have you now godling!"

The women just became bronze birds with heads of human women. Just when this day couldn't get any more freakier.

"I got you!" Clyde yelled and he tossed his pants at the storm-gray-eyed Harpy who was in the middle of the trip holding the torn hood.

She screeched as they hit her face, causing her to spaz and hit the other two harpies with her wings. I never thought that I would see the day where a pair of pants helped us in a fight.

"Holy shit," I muttered.

"Step on it Nyome!" Clyde ordered, "We have to get to Camp Half-Blood before they catch up with us!"

I never have driven so fast in my life before.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS CAMP HALF-BLOOD?" Oh! Swearing from me is a tell-tale sign that I'm pissed, I don't usually use terrible swears like this.

"It's a summer camp for demigods! I'm a Keeper there! So I bring demigods to camp so they can be trained and safe!" Clyde explained.

"WHAT?"

Another screech and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clyde throw his beanie. It was no use, one of them swooped down at us, their talons just barely missing my shoulder thanks to me flinching last minute.

"You think your pants could stop Aello?!"

"No! We thought they would compliment her feathers!" I snapped back sarcastically, swerving my car to avoid another diving Harpie.

"You can't dodge me, godling! I'm Ocypete, the swift-flying! What I did to your arm is only a nick compared to what my talons can do to your face!"

"Nyome!" Clyde yelled, "Let me take the wheel!"

"What? No!" I yelled, swerving my car to avoid the stormy-eyed Harpy, Aello I think was her name. "You're the reason why my car lost its hood! YOU'LL FUCK IT UP EVEN MORE!"

The black-haired chick, now Harpie, cackled. "Mortals and their material things! She worries about her car over her life!"

"I know Celaeno!" Ocypete cackled as she agreed. "Her death will be most satisfying!"

"Bla-ah-ah-ah! Nyome! You need two hands to fight them off! Your ring on your bracelet! Your Dad told me that it was a gift from your Mom right? Press the moon!"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" I screamed at Clyde, facing him to give my best glare.

He pushed me off of my wheel and quickly grabbed it and started steering, climbing over me (I got a mouthful of his goat fur and it tasted nasty) to get to the driver's seat. "JUST DO IT!"

"FINE SHIA LABEOUF!" I squirmed away from him, avoiding getting touched in the face with his goat tail (I don't trust goat butts, I used to volunteer at a petting zoo and I got stuck with pooper scooper duty) and pressed the onyx gem that made the crescent moon.

I thought I could prove Clyde wrong but I definitely didn't expect my entire bracelet to turn into a whip made out of a pure black metal with a leather grip and a crescent moon at the base of the grip to appear in my left hand. I stood on the passenger seat, staring at my weapon.

"NOW KILL THEM!" Clyde yelled as he swerved the car to avoid dives from all three of the Harpies.

"HOW THE FUCK DO I DO THAT?!" I screamed, grabbing on what remained of the top of my car to keep myself from falling. I hissed when the torn metal cut my free hand but I put my whip in my more dominant hand anyway. My left hand can't do shit.

"DON'T THINK ABOUT IT, JUST FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS!"

"Now die!" Aello squaked as she dove for me, her brass talons at the ready to gouge out my eyes or something.

I didn't even think twice about it, my right hand brandished my whip at her, wrapping it around her taloned feet. I used my whip to throw her to the street, ripping her feet off in the process. I flicked my wrist, having my whip strick her through the head. I watched as she crumbled into chunks of sand and a gold anomaly entered my whip.

"Holy.... _I just killed a Harpie_ ," I gasped and snapped my head to the other two Harpies as they gave despaired caws.

"You'll pay for killing my sister! Have a taste of Celaeno, the Dark's talons!" Caleano wailed and when she was close enough in her dive, I had my whip wrap around her neck and tore her head clean off. Celaeno crumbled to sand and my whip absorbed another gold anomaly, the same way as Aello.

"Woah!" I called out when Clyde had us drive up a hill at top speed. Without warning. Oh Clyde will have a taste of my fury as soon as we reach this stupid Camp Half-Blood.

"Celaeno! Aello!" Ocypete sobbed and she hissed at me through her tears. "Just you wait godling! I will exact my revenge another day!" Then she flew away, a wailing and cawing mess.

I dropped my whip and I sat down and pulled Clyde out of the driver seat and I quickly took my position as driver back. "You are so gonna get it Cyde!" I seethed.

"Brakes! We passed the tree! Brake! Brake!" Clyde ordered.

"Buckle up buttercup!" I threw my seatbelt on (yeah I know I didn't have my seatbelt on the entire time, sue me), and I quickly made sure Clyde (I saw his horns and wow, that's why he always wore that beanie) before slamming my foot on the brake, jerking my steering wheel to the right. The car did a few 360s before finally skidding to a halt. "You okay Clyde?" I asked, loosening my death grip on my steering wheel and unbuckling.

"Yeah, but you're hurt," Clyde responded, "Hold on, I'll help you out. You better put your whip away."

I quickly snagged my whip with my left hand (my right arm and hand felt like they were on fire and it hurt) and pressed the crescent moon on the grip, it would make sense that the crescent moon would turn it on and off. The whip coiled itself around my middle finger and wrist and glowed silver, turning back into my ring and bracelet. I saw a crowd of teenagers, preteen and late teens alike, gather around my car along with a middle-aged man, whoops, centaur. Clyde opened my door and I groaned when he grabbed my arms to give me support as he helped me out.

"Don't touch my car," I snapped at a few kids and apparently I looked scary enough to have them flinch away.

"Easy Nyome," Clyde sighed as he helped me walk.

My vision blurred, I guess from the huge amount of blood I lost during this battle (the entire interior of my car is covered in my blood) and the edges started turning black. Before I knew it, I blacked out while Mr. Centaur was giving out orders.


	2. Chapter 2: How To Be A Demigod 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I changed up the chapter a bit on my google doc so I needed to repost it, sorry guys

When I woke up, I was lying in a deck chair on a huge ass porch and the air smelt like strawberries. The sunlight was too bright, so I couldn't see very much of my surroundings. I closed my eyes after I had enough of squinting and just resorted to my sense of touch. I didn't feel my usual fuzzy inside of my hoodie, so obviously I didn't have it on. A blanket was covering me though, good thing since I had a tank top on and I didn't want to wake up to feeling like my body was on pins and needles. My head was also resting on a perfectly cozy pillow, it was nice to wake up in comfort heaven. I tried to move to change my position (I felt a little stiff) but my entire body ached like I had caught a huge cold, my mouth felt like a dessert and even my teeth hurt. In simple words, I felt like dirt.

"You're awake!" Clyde's voice cheered and I felt someone embrace me.

I groaned. "Clyde, my sunglasses," I croaked, weakly returning the hug.

"Right." He pulled away and I felt something slide onto my face, albeit shakily. "Ok. They're on, you can open your eyes now."

I opened my eyes and relaxed as I took in my surroundings. I was overlooking a beautiful meadow with green hills in the horizon. "Nice view." I turned to my right to see a nightstand with a tall glass of iced apple juice with a blue straw on top of it. I tried to grab it (ignoring my arm when the sunlight hit it), but if it weren't for Clyde being there to catch the glass, I would've spilt it all over myself.

"Take it easy Nyome, I'll help you out," Clyde chuckled and put the straw to my lips.

I felt my cheeks grow hot with embarrassment as I started to drink. I was taken by surprise when the drink wasn't cold, even though there was ice in it. It didn't even taste like apple juice, it tasted like my favorite snack in the entire world, Oreos. I downed the entire glass in a heartbeat, feeling a million times better already. Clyde laughed and put the glass back on the nightstand.

"Let me guess, it tasted like Oreos?" He snickered.

"How the hell did you know?" I demanded, sitting up and wrapping the blanket around me.

"Nectar, the thing you just drank, takes the flavor of your favorite food. I know that you love Oreos, so I knew it would taste like it."

I scowled and then tensed, seeing that where Clyde's pants should be was black fur...and goat legs with cloven hooves.

"You're actually a satyr," I whispered and I looked up at his wavy brown hair to see that yep, he has black ram horns. I wasn't hallucinating, we were actually chased by Harpies...so..my car. I quickly got up and instantly regretted it when I was struck with dizziness.

"Easy!" Clyde said and he steadied me when I swayed, "Nyome you just recovered from your wounds, don't push yourself too hard."

Wounds? I checked my right arm and hand but I didn't see any gashes or cuts, not even scars. "What?" I asked.

"Chiron and I fed you some ambrosia to heal those nasty cuts while you were passed out."

"How long was I out?"

"A little over a day. Not too long, you did lose a lot of blood." Clyde took a step back. "Sorry about your car! Well, it wasn't entirely my fault. The Harpies ripped the hood off and ruined it, but I know you still blame me...so, sorry."

I glared at him until I saw his shadow move out of the corner of my eye and I glanced at it.

_ Please forgive me...I mean it, _ His shadow whispered to me.

I smacked him over the back of the head. "Fine, you're forgiven," I sighed, "By the way, where's my hoodie?"

Clyde snatched a large black one with the recycle triangle on it. "You can borrow mine for now. One of the guys from cabin six is sewing up the right sleeve. He said it might take a couple of days, his mother might be the goddess of weaving but he's a bit rusty with his sewing and weaving skills."

I took the hoodie, ignoring the last sentence he said for the sake of my sanity at the moment, and quickly put it on. I didn't care that it was too big on me since Clyde packed a bit more muscle, height, and weight. It smelt like Clyde too; woodsy and with a hint of flowers and goat. I pulled the hood up and placed my hands in the pockets, instantly feeling a bit more comfortable.

I have to explain the shadow thing, right? Well, I've always been able to talk with shadows, they always whisper to me about their owner in first person as if I was reading the person's thoughts. Usually, I just ignore the whisperings, and they become background noise. Sometimes, I use those shadows to tell when someone is lying or being sincere, or if I want to taunt someone when they pick a fight with me. They always move whenever I look at them or when they want my attention, but I just chalked it up to being my mind playing tricks on me until now.

"I'm waiting for my explanation," I reminded Clyde.

"Yeah, just a sec. You have to meet Mr. D and Chiron first and they'll help me explain everything," Clyde assured and he started to lead the way.

I sighed and followed him and I saw that this huge ass porch wrapped around a farmhouse. I looked around and I saw a bunch of Greek Architectural buildings, an amphitheatre, a circular arena, and a sand pit dotting the landscape and kids in their early and late teens in orange t-shirts going to a fro in between buildings, playing basketball, or playing volleyball with other satyrs in the sand. I saw a lake with kids canoeing in it, and just watching them made me feel so insecure. I never felt comfortable in the ocean, and I'm  _ terrified _ of heights. I never flown in an airplane because I would  _ lose it _ . I saw a kid fly in the air like Peter Pan and my heart almost stopped just by watching him.

Clyde stopped when we reached the end of the porch, seeing two men sitting across from each other at a card table. Well, the centaur man was standing (I guess, his horse half certainly wasn't sitting), and a pudgy man was sitting down. The pudgy man was facing me, and I almost laughed at his looks. Really! He had a Rudolph red nose and his big eyes were watery, like he was on the verge of bawling his eyes out. He reminded me of Grumpy the dwarf from Snow White because he was short. It didn't help that he was wearing a ridiculous looking tiger-printed Hawaiian shirt. The only thing I found cool about him was his hair; is was super curly but the thing that got me was that it was so black that it looked purple. His shadow demanded my attention, so I glanced at it while I listened to its whispers.

_ Brat, I'm a god! I shouldn't be stuck here without wine, ugh! I'm Dionysus! By my father, as soon as my- _

I ignored it before I screamed at it to stop whining. And before I could dwell on the fact that I'm in the presence of a supposed Greek god.

"Mr. D is the man in the Hawaiian shirt," Clyde whispered to me, "He's the camp director so don't piss him off. Chiron trains the demigods here and helps Mr. D out."

Mr. Middle-Aged Dad-Looking Centaur is Chiron? Got that.

"Ah! Ms. Walker you're feeling well?" The centaur man, Chiron, asked, "Now we have four players to play pinochle."

"Oh great, yet another brat. I'm forced to say this, so here; Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. Now, both of you get a chair so we can start."

"No thanks," I declined while Clyde obeyed. "I'm here for answers, not to play a game."

"Nyome," Clyde warned as he gave me a scared look.

I'm not afraid of that fluffy god. "Yeah, yeah, you told me not to piss off Dionysus but I just fought off a Harpie trio, my car's ruined, and I just recovered, so I have no patience to play 'beat around the bush.' Clyde you owe me answers, you said they would help you out, so explain."

"Listen here little lady, names are powerful things," Mr. D warned, glaring at me with his eyes taking on a purple fire, "You don't just spew them out of your mouth for no reason."

I returned the glare.

Mr. D's expression, for a split second, changed into that of surprise. He got up and I knew things were going to escalate.

Clyde quickly stood, probably thinking the same thing.

"Girl, you should start showing some respect before one of the gods, or me, decide to incinerate you," Mr. D said, pointing a fat finger at me.

I had two choices; snap back or submit. Good thing I know how to descalate a situation and when to back down. "Forgive me, sir," I apologized, "The shock and severity of the situation hasn't hit yet so excuse my insolence."

The purple fired died and Mr. D returned his attention to his cards. "Clyde, the Council of Cloven Elders have summoned you."

"Yes sir," Clyde nodded and he gave me a "Please behave" look before leaving.

Chiron put his cards down on the table. "I believe I win again."

Mr. D sighed through his nose and put his cards down. "One of these days I'll win."

Chiron chuckled and he put a hand on my shoulder. "Come on Nyome, let's show you around camp."

Our walk was information overload. I didn't even have to peg Chiron with questions because he explained everything about the gods and camp to me like he did it a million times (and I wouldn't be surprised if I found out he did). While he was explaining, my ADHD was making me look around everywhere. I was a little scared of the rock walls that some of the campers were climbing, dodging lava and rushing to the top before they became a pancake between the two walls. The other campers were staring at me as we walked by and I moved my bangs from behind my right ear so I could at least hide from some of them. Did I mention that hate being gawked at? Yeah, I  _ hate  _ it but when you’re me, that’s all you get.

"Clyde said that Christopher, my Dad, knew that I'm a demigod. Clyde knew. So why didn't they tell me earlier?" I questioned, interrupting his lecture about the strawberry fields being the way for the camp to get income to pay expenses.

"Monsters," Chiron answered, "If you realized who you are before you got here, you would put yourself more at risk for an attack. However, most demigods arrive here when they're 13 years old, ever since the Titan War. I'm surprised you made it to 16 before your first monster attack."

"Ok...why wasn't I taken here sooner?"

"It wasn't your Fate to come here until now. Clyde had requested to bring you here earlier but I told him to keep an eye on you until it was time."

"Yeah, that costed my car's hood."

"You escaped with your life, that makes up for your damaged material items."

Chiron showed me the pavilion and the armory, judging which sword would fit for me for battle. Then we reached the cabin area and let me tell you, the sheer number of cabins took my breath away. They were all laid out in the form of the Greek letter, Omega, and all decorated and built differently. It was obvious that the cabins represented the gods, judging from cabin 3's oceanic look (obviously Poseidon's cabin) and the knowledge Chiron just spewed out to me. I saw my car parked outside of cabin 9, which I assumed was Hephaestus's cabin since it looked like a steampunk factory. I made a step in the direction but Chiron stopped me by placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Now, it's been awhile since Camp Half-Blood had an undetermined demigod, so you'll be staying in cabin 11," Chiron told me.

"Wait, undetermined?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Your godly parent, well more specifically a goddess for your case, hasn't claimed you yet. Since we don't know your godly parent, I can't place you in any other cabin besides cabin 11."

"Who has cabin 11?"

"Hermes. He's the god of travelers and wanders, so it's alright to have stay in that cabin temporarily."

A brunette guy walked up to us, giving Chiron a sly grin. "Hey Chiron!" He greeted before looking at me, "Newbie?"

Everything about this dude screamed bad boy. I’m guessing he’s 18...19 at the most, but the terrible looking scar going down his right cheek (it looked like something tried to claw it out! Damn!) wasn't helping me out with his age. His salt and pepper hair was in an undercut, the unshaved part being in a swish style to cover his right eye. It was neat for the most part, only the hair at the back of his looked like a spiked mess. The kid sported a pretty sweet lip ring and a few horseshoe piercings on his ears. His orange “Camp Half-Blood” shirt had the sleeves cut off, exposing his gold caduceus tattoo on his left bicep. He pulled off the ripped shorts look too, but his blue and white Nikes weren't working it.

"Yes, her name is Nyome Walker," Chiron introduced and he looked to me, "Nyome this is Trent Mercier, son of Hermes and head of cabin 11. He will be your camp counselor for the time being."

"Yeah, nice to meet ya!" Trent put his hand out to shake, his silvery-blue eyes sparkling.

I shook his hand. "Yeah," I returned the greeting.

"Trent, can you take it from here? I have an archery class to teach," Chiron requested.

"Sure thing! C’mon Nyome!" Trent answered, motioning for me to follow him.

Chiron galloped off and I found myself stuck with a dude who was a son of the god of thieves.

"So, ya undetermined? That sucks big time," Trent said when I fell into step with him (he was keen on keeping me on his left side) and he gestured to the amount of cabins, "We haven't had an undetermined since ta Titan War. Percy made ta gods promise to claim their kids and thanks to Percy, we have all of these cabins so ta minor gods don’t feel unappreciated.”

I nodded. "Nice, but that didn't stop my Mom from not claiming me."

Trent gave a sympathetic smile and he pat my shoulder, "Maybe she's waiting for ta right time to claim ya?" He shrugged. "Ta gods are pretty mysterious, so I wouldn't think much 'bout it. Ya be claimed in no time, trust me! Maybe by tonight’s campfire." He chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "So, why do ya wear that hoodie? It's like a hundred degrees out here!"

No der, I'm boiling under this thing and it's  _ thin _ . "The sun bothers my skin."

"Weird."

I never had anyone say that to my face. I think I kinda like this Trent dude a bit.

He showed me to the slightly crowded cabin 11, I was lucky that there still was an empty bunk for me. The bad thing is that it's a top bunk. Maybe I can convince a kid to switch with me...

"Yep. I'll steal ya some toiletries so ya feel more at home. Ya stuff from Spence should get here today. Ya Dad wasn't happy about ta whole thing but eh, that's ya deal." Trent jerked his thumb over his left shoulder to point at the door behind him, "I know ya wanna go check out ya sweet ride. Cabin 9 didn't do anything to it 'cuz Clyde knew ya blow a fuse. Their cabin head is one of my best friends, so we can work something out."

I left the cabin as soon as those words left his mouth, the only thing he said that didn't hurt my head (all of this information is giving me a headache). I ran to my beloved car, ignoring the Hephaestus kids as I gave it a glance over. Besides the hood, a few scratches, along with the bloodsoaked interior, everything was fine. I'll have to thank Clyde as soon as he gets out of his meeting.

"You have a pretty sweet ride," A male's voice with a slight English accent (yes, I said English instead of British. I found 'British' to be insulting ever since I learned about the American Revolution).

"Thanks," I responded, "I know."

I turned around to see a tan dude, he looked about 20, with dark brown eyes and slicked back brown hair. I almost chuckled at his hair, it was mostly neat but he had a couple of strands form a horse-lick. He held a calloused hand out to me.

"I'm Tony, Head of Cabin 9 and Son of Hephaestus," He introduced himself.

"Nyome." I shook his hand and returned to looking at my car. "So, you and your cabin want to fix my baby?"

Tony chuckled. "Yeah, we've been forging weapons and such. Some of my younger siblings would love a project to keep themselves busy. Something different to do, you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I turned to Tony and pointed a finger at him. "No funny business, alright? Nothing happens to my car without my okay."

He raised his hands in surrender. "I'll let them know."

"Do ya want to make him swear on ta River Styx?" Trent asked as he casually strolled over to us with a lit cigarette in his hand.

"What?"

Trent took a drag, making sure to blow the smoke away from me and Tony. "Swearing on the River Styx is a serious oath. Ya don't wanna break it 'cuz ta consequences are super serious."

"No, I love my car but I'm not gonna have someone swear their life for it," I deadpanned.

Trent shrugged and he tossed his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out. He looked to Tony and smirked. "Hey Tony," He greeted and slapped his ass.

Tony rolled his eyes and rubbed his butt. "My ass isn't for slapping," He sighed.

"But it's _ so slappable _ ," Trent retorted with a chuckle.

I chuckled a bit at the scene. If I didn't know Clyde as well as I did, I would be  _ that _ best friend. But, Clyde doesn't like that kind of thing and honestly, it would be kinda awkward because I kinda have a crush on him. I know that's a huge bomb drop, but please don't make it a huge deal yet. Keep in mind that I said  _ kinda _ have a crush.

After my car situation was sorted out, Trent gave a breakdown of the schedule at Camp Half-Blood.

"My favorite part of Camp Half-Blood is ta game, Capture ta Flag," He told me as we were strolling to the Arena, "It's kinda hard to explain but I know it's soon. We haven't figured out a day yet, but ya see how it'll go down and I bet ya gonna love it too."

"Sounds fun," I commented and I saw Clyde run over to us in his human attire.

"Nyome!" My satyr best friend called and he grinned at Trent.

"Clyde! My main satyr, how ya doin'?" Trent greeted, fist bumping Clyde.

"Good, good. I have another assignment to do so I can't be here long," Clyde answered.

"Another assignment?" I asked.

Clyde gave me a sympathetic smile while he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I have another demigod to bring to camp. Sorry Nyome, if I could I would stay here and help you adjust but there's still a lot of demigods being claimed that need to get here."

Claimed except for me. "Oh. Stay safe, ok? I'll see you when you get back, I guess."

Clyde's smile faded for a second and he perked up. "Hey! You still have that prism souvenir from that museum field trip we had? The one that makes a rainbow when you shine a light on it?"

"Yeah, it's in the glove compartment of my car....why?"

Trent chuckled. "Iris-Messaging," He answered and he pulled a gold coin out of his pocket. "You make a rainbow and say 'O Goddess please accept my offering' and say ta name of ta person you wanna talk to after you toss a drachma into ta rainbow. Iris will have ta message go through if she's not busy."

"So Instant Messaging...but with Rainbows? Cool," I said and looked to Clyde, "I'll Iris-Message you later, ok?"

Clyde grinned. "Yeah!" He cheered and he hugged me. "Good luck and  _ please behave. _ "

I laughed and returned the hug. "Thanks but I'm not making any promises on the behave part."

Clyde pulled away and rolled his amber eyes. "She's a handful, Trent," He warned while he gave another fist bump. "Bye guys!"

I scoffed as he ran off, rolling my eyes at what he told Trent.

You know that feeling you get when you and your friend chill in a class but the next class you have, you don't have a single friend in it so you feel alone when you have to separate? That's what I felt. Yeah, I like Trent but we haven't been comfortable with each other to be friends. He's more like the acquaintance who's an authority figure for me rather than a friend at the moment. I really wanted Clyde to pass the assignment off to another satyr or something just so he could stay.

I looked to Trent when he put a hand on my shoulder."Hey, don't worry 'bout him! Clyde'll be fine!" He assured with a grin, "He's been on a lot of those assignments so he'll be back in no time."

"Three years don’t pass that fast," I muttered.

He blinked. "Oh! No! With claimed demigods, their assignments take a few days to a week...depending on how far they are. Ya were  _ scouted  _ by him..that's different. Clyde found ya while he was on an assignment and he talked to Chiron about bringing ya to camp. That's kinda an old school way. Remember what I told ya about undetermined demigods? Well, some satyrs were sent on retrieval assignments when word spread about a claimed demigod. Some satyrs were sent undercover to scout out demigods because they can read auras. If the demigod had a powerful aura, they would talk to Chiron and sometimes he would go out to watch over that demigod with the satyr."

"How do you know all that?"

Trent smirked. "Well, I was here when ta Titan War was going down. I didn't do anything too spectacular so don't expect any stories from me." His face took on a dark expression. "It wasn't a fun time either, so we'll leave it at that." Trent took on his usual expression again and he smiled, " _ But _ , Clyde will get back before ya know it so don't look so down. Alright?"

I nodded and forced a smile. "Alright."

He told me some more about the camp and being a demigod in general. Apparently, my ADHD is my battle reflexes and sharpened senses. My Dyslexia is because my mind is wired for Ancient Greek, not English.

“That tree with the Golden Fleece guarded by ta dragon there is what keeps ta monsters and mortals out and away,” Trent pointed out, “But we got some wise guys that like to let monsters in to boost-or destroy-their egos and for pranks.”

“That’s messed up,” I muttered.

We finally reached the arena, to see groups of other campers at work. In the center of the arena, two black haired boys were having a sword fight. One was alabaster pale, but he had an Italian olive tint to it. I couldn't see his face because his back was turned to us. The other dude was facing me, his eyes a sea green color. He looked almost 18 and held a bronze sword in his hand and lunged at the other kid.

“Hey Percy, Nico,” Trent called out, “Mind if I take some arena space to give ta newbie a feel for how training goes at camp?”

The eighteen-year-old with sea green eyes looked to us and gave a small pout. “Trent you don't need to ask,” he answered, out of breath. “It’s not like I own this place.”

“Percy ya reserved it, so technically, ya do...for today at least.”

The kid with his back turned to me turned around, revealing really dark eyes under the strands of his hair. Then he turned to Percy. “Maybe you can help them, you need a break anyway.”

Percy nodded and he walked over to us. “Hi, I’m Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon,” He introduced himself then he motioned the dark-eyed guy getting a drink of water, “And he’s Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades. How are you doing? Liking your first day so far?”

“Nyome Walker,” I returned the greeting. Yeah, I’m not much of a fangirl, so don’t expect me to lose my mind when I met  _ the _ Percy….celebrities are people too. I shrugged. “It’s a lot to take in, but I’m doing alright.”

I noticed a figure in the shadows after I broke eye contact with Percy. It was an alabaster pale girl with green eyes. She was talking to Nico and I listened to the whispering shadows. It’s cute that Nico is really close with his sister Salem-Mercy Anders...I wish I had a sibling to be close with.

“Salem’s in ta shadows?” Trent asked Percy.

Percy nodded then he turned to me. “Alright, let’s see how you are at battle reflexes. Word on the street says you took out two Harpies before you got here so take out your weapon and show me what you got!”

I pressed the crescent moon of my ring and opened my right hand, my whip materializing into it.

“A whip?” Trent identified with amusement as he smirked, “Kinky.”

Percy erupted with laughter and I turned to Trent, speechless and glaring.

“W-well,” Percy began in between chuckles, “I’m skilled with swords, not whips. They’re more...unconventional. That’s more up Trent’s alley, check his weapon out.”

“Unconventional?” I deadpanned, “I’m offended for my weapon.”

Trent laughed and he showed off his gold caduceus tattoo. “Check this trick out!” He cleared his throat. “ _ Antára _ !”

His tattoo glowed as the two intertwined snakes slithered into the air, the rod and further intertwining themselves to form a thicker, longer rod that placed itself in Trent’s outstretched hand. The wings separated and fluttered to both ends of the rod, forming themselves into spear tips. Trent smirked and twirled his double-bladed spear.

“You named it ‘Mayhem?’” I asked stupidly.

“Let’s see what ya-” Trent was about to challenge when a camper shouted in the distance. He sighed and his spear returned to being a tattoo. “Ya dad’s here.”

I suppressed the urge to groan. I didn’t think that Christopher was being serious about bringing my stuff from Spence here. I sprinted to the pine tree, and skidded to a halt when I saw the 6’3” figure of the man who fathered me, standing next to a suitcase coupled with a small box. My dark eyes locked with his crystal blue orbs, and I realized that our eye contact was the most attention he gave me since my birthday last July. I quickly turned my whip back into its bracelet-ring form and I jogged to Christopher at the border.

“You didn’t have much.” That was the first thing Christopher said to me as soon as I was within hearing distance. No “Hey Nyome! What happened? Are you ok?” or “I missed you!”

“Missed you too, Christopher. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Got nicked, lost the hood of my car but it’s all good.”

He blinked down at me, putting his hands in his blazer pockets. “Good to know.”

“Yeah. Make it awkward.”

“I really need to get back at my-”

“Club, I know. Go. I’ll talk to you when summer ends to talk about school and shit.”

“Bye.”

And just like that, he got into his sleek, black Mercedes and drove off. I wanted to scream, cry, and punch something all at once. I stared after the retreating silhouette of the car before looking at the box and suitcase. I didn’t want my stuff anymore. I grabbed the box and tucked it under my left arm and then I grabbed my suitcase, sighing. “Why do I feel so let down?” I asked myself, “I know how he is…yet, I still get my hopes up.” I reached the cabin 11 and I threw my box up to my bunk. I didn’t know Trent was in the cabin too until he helped me lift my suitcase up to my bunk.

“Do ya have anything super valuable in those?” He asked, staring down at me with a sad gleam in his eye. I knew he saw what went down with me and Christopher.

“No,” I sigh.

We were both silent for the rest of the day when he helped me get my things settled and finished up the tour. Trent occasionally broke the silence with an explanation of a camp activity or a little joke when it got super awkward. I just didn’t want to talk. The sound of something getting blown pierced the atmosphere and campers, by cabin, flocked to the pavilion. I was chilling with the rest of cabin 11 and I was about to flock with the rest when Trent grabbed my arm to stop me, motioning for the rest of the cabin to go ahead.

“What?” I snapped, shaking my arm out of his grip.

“I wanna give ya this drachma,” Trent answered, completely disregarding my attitude. He placed the gold coin in my hoodie pocket. “And, I’m no stranger to Daddy issues…so I’m here if ya wanna talk, ok?”

I stared at him. “Yeah…ok.”

We went to dinner and I tried not to fall off of the edge of the bench.

When lights out was called, I stared at the cabin ceiling while I was lying in my bed. I was listening to “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" by Fall Out Boy. Insomnia is  _ so fun _ , staring at the ceiling with perfect night vision while contemplating life's mysteries. Or staring at a clear prism and wondering how the hell I'm supposed to Iris-message Clyde without waking anyone up or get eaten by patrol harpies.

All my problems were answered when I saw Trent about to get out of the cabin door.

I sat up. "Trent," I whispered, "What the hell are you doing?"

Trent turned around, exposing his cigarette in hand. "Going for a smoke," He whispered back.

I hopped down. "Mind if I join?" I realized what I suggested. "Not to smoke, but I need to talk to Clyde."

He chuckled. "Sure, come on."

Trent grabbed my free hand, making me squeak, and dragged me out. He put the unlit cigarette between his lips and he started to scale the cabin wall swiftly to get onto the roof. I stared up and froze. The roof was a bit too high for me, I'm seriously regretting this decision.

"Ya comin' up, or what?" Trent asked, frowning down at me on the roof.

"Um...that's...a bit of a height there," I responded.

"'Afraid o' heights? I got ya, don't worry." He leaned over the edge. "Start climbin', I won't let ya fall."

I sighed and I put the prism and drachma down my shirt, good thing I have busty enough boobs to keep things secured there. I got some climbing done when Trent put his hand out to me.

"Trent, I'm more nervous about  _ you _ falling," I protested as I stared at his hand.

"Nyome, I seriously need my cigarette. Grab on, would ya?" Trent snapped.

"Fine." I grabbed onto his hand as if it was my lifeline.

He lifted me up no problem, swinging me over so I was sitting next to him, our feet dangling over the edge. I watched as Trent grabbed his lighter out of his t-shirt pocket and lit his cigarette, inhaling the cancer with a relieved moan. He exhaled with a huge grin.

"Better," He sighed then he looked to me. "So, ya gonna call Clyde? He's probably sleepin', ya know."

"I know but Clyde is used to my nocturnal quirks." I took out the prism and drachma. I was about to do my thing when I suddenly realized- "Damn it, I forgot my flashlight in my car."

Trent laughed. "Wow! That's priceless!"

"Shut up!"

"S-sorry." Trent gave another drag of his cigarette. "But hey, I'm here for ya ta talk to. Tell ya counselor what's up."

I pouted and I stared up at the moon, a few stars twinkling here and there. Strange, it's like the night sky isn't dark enough for the stars to shine. It's been like that since Christmas. "Won't the patrol harpies try to eat us?"

"Nah, I'm cool with them. They don't want me ta give my cabin mates secondhand smoke so they don't mind me outside."

"Oh."

A small moment of awkward silence passed between us.

"Nyome, can I ask ya somethin'?" Trent broke the silence after putting out his cigarette.

"Shoot," I sighed, laying on my back.

"Why do ya like ya car so much?"

"Is it weird that I like my my car a lot?" I sat up and locked eyes with Trent. "Why do you want to know?"

He raised his hands up in surrender. "Hey! Easy! I'm just curious, 'kay?"

Yeah, way to make me feel like an ass. "Christopher bought it for my birthday. We went to a dealership together and I picked it out after a lot of test drives. It...." I looked down to my lap. "He spent a day on me. That hasn't happened since I was nine. Anyway, that day Christopher was...proud? I don't know, but he was really glad that I got my license and he even congratulated me on my good driving when we were out test driving. He expects me to take care of my car. So, yeah, I'm crazy about my car because of that."

"Does he work a lot?"

I gave a humorless laugh. "He's always at his nightclub, or doing something related to it."

Awkward silence ensued and with a silent agreement, we went back into the cabin. My hour of sleep was full of dreams about a huge woman made of ash and smoke with glowing white eyes and wearing a dress that was made of the cosmos itself, beating her black wings that pulsed with darkness as she howled with rage and frustration as she was searching in the dark screaming "Where is it?".


	3. Chapter 3 An Altercation Solves Everything

 

I've been in camp for a week and still no claim. I should've been claimed at the campfire at the latest when I first arrived but I didn't go to it, I had to get my things settled. Everyone was on edge around me, constantly looking above my head to find some sort of sign on who my Mother is. Then they started to put me down the list of Goddesses.

I'm not the fashionable, make-up kind of gal, so Aphrodite was out. And damn did most of the people in that cabin annoy me.

No green thumb. Demeter was out.

Iris was out. I wasn't drawn to rainbows.

I don't do a lot of reading and I'm not smart or strategy oriented. Athena was out. But I got my hoodie back, the kid did his best with the sleeve but I didn't care that it looked ugly; I just didn't want to feel like I was stealing Clyde's clothes.

Artemis is a maiden Goddess so nope. Shame. It would've made sense.

Eris, Hecate, and a ton of minor goddesses were crossed off the list.

No one knew who my Mother could be. So people thought that maybe my Mother was mortal and had an affair with a God while she was with Christopher. I don't know why (Christopher and I look a lot alike), but they were desperate.

Camp activities didn't help either. Nymphs outran me (but I'm not much of a runner, anyway), my crafts looked like it was a victim of a centaur stampede, I refused to go canoeing, and I almost impaled the head of the Apollo cabin, Will, with an arrow during Archery. Cross off Poseidon and Apollo. Dionysus knew I wasn't his kid. I was good at fighting, so Ares was a possibility, but I don’t always go looking for a fight _and_ I’m not thirsty for one either. So cross Ares off the list. Everyone crossed off every God until Hades was available. Hades is hands down, my favorite Greek God. Everyone thinks he's the bad guy since he runs the Underworld and is the God of the Dead. Honestly, if you had to deal with dead people all the time, you wouldn't be a ball of sunshine either. Hades does what has to be done, so naturally, he's pegged as the bad guy. I actually had a debate about Hades in Mythology class at the Spence School. Best. Day. Of. My. Life.

But back to the topic at hand, nobody knew who my godly parent was and they were getting scared. Someone accused me of being a monster, because being a mortal was ruled out since I didn't spontaneously combust from eating the nectar and ambrosia. I told them that I wouldn't have crossed the border and if I had the urge to spontaneously eat them, I would let them know.

Percy was getting _pissed_ the longer I stay unclaimed. Don’t get me wrong, the dude is awesome and we got pretty close thanks to combat practice, but he’s scary when he’s mad. The lake has been acting crazy recently and his girlfriend, Annabeth, has been glued to his side to keep him calm. I can’t help but feel guilty that whenever I come around, he’d glare above my head.

“They promised,” Percy muttered, “They _swore on the River Styx_.”

“Percy,” I sighed and I put a hand on his shoulder. Annabeth was busy with giving Greek lessons, but things were getting tense between them (if whisper yelling at each other and tense body language was anything to go by). “If I hear one more thing about my ‘no claim’ situation, I’m going to scream and punch someone. Can we focus on our sword stuff now?”

That got him back on task, at least.

Clyde got back from his assignment yesterday, and he brought home a son of Hecate. _He_ got claimed _on the spot_ , and I started to hate him. Something was off with the kid anyway, but I can’t put my finger on it.

When Percy called for a break, I found Clyde and Trent sitting under a tree.

Clyde was talking about  something and waving his arms around while Trent was chuckling and giving Clyde this cute, loving stare. I can’t get jealous, I like Trent too.

An explanation shall be granted.

Trent is the only one at Camp, besides Clyde, who isn't acting weird around me for being unclaimed. He doesn't look like it, but Trent is a sweetheart and a great listener. Every night he brought me with him onto the roof of the Hermes cabin, and while he was smoking he would ask me questions about me and we get to know each other. He won't talk about his mom, his life before camp, or about his love life since he told me he was bisexual. I didn't press Trent for that information either...after all, I have my secrets too.

“Quinn face planted so hard,” Clyde laughed, “That the _empousa_ tripped over herself laughing!” Amidst his laughing fit, Clyde noticed my presence. “Hey Nyome!”

Trent looked to me and grinned, his stare still cute and loving. “Hey Nyome! Join us in ta shade! Ya need to cool down.”

The two shuffled apart to make space for me to sit between them. I felt my cheeks grow warm as I took the spot.

“What were you guys talking about?” I asked, playing with the sleeves of my hoodie.

“I was telling Trent about how the son of Hecate, Quinn’s, retrieval mission went,” Clyde answered. “That kid needs some fighting practice, he would've been _empousa_ dinner if I wasn't there.”

Trent wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Quinn isn't bad with his magic though,” He told us, “He can use weapons, but he can't fight. Weird, ain't it?”

I hummed in agreement.

Clyde cuddled up to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. “We all have our weird traits.”

We spent the rest of the day talking and joking under the tree...and it was a little uncomfortable for me. When dinner time hit, Clyde and Trent had made me the middle of their jealous boy sandwich.

I took my sunglasses off after the sun set and I wriggled free. “I’m starving, come on let’s go,” I announced.

Trent got up and reclaimed my shoulders. “Sure thing! See ya at the pavilion Clyde!” We rejoined the Hermes cabin and got our food. I filled my plate with tofu baby back ribs, rice, and I found some oreos to eat after. I reached the fire in the center of the pavilion and threw half of my ribs and some rice into the fire. _To Hades….and I guess my mom too...whoever she is_ , I thought to myself as I followed Trent to cabin 11’s table..only to freeze in my tracks when I heard my name.

“Psh, Nyome isn't a normal demigod like us. She must be a Titan’s kid, since none of the gods want to claim her,” A girl sneered to her buddy at the Ares table.

“What was that?” I asked, facing the Ares table, “I heard you say my name, what are you telling your buddy there about me? Hm?”

The red-haired girl turned to me and glared with her bright amber eyes. “None of your business, undetermined,” She spat.

_Oh, it’s going down and I’m yelling ‘timber.’_ I continued walking and “tripped” over my feet, “accidentally” painting her with my food. “Oops.”

She slammed her fists on the table as she got up and pushed my chest. “You got a death wish, punk?”

I laughed. “Think you're so tough, huh? I asked you a question, answer it.” I paused for effect. “Coward.”

“Nyome-” Trent tried to intervene but I raised my hand.

“What did you call me?” The Ares girl got in my face.

“You heard me,” I spat and clenched my fists, “If you can call me a ‘Titan’s kid’ behind my back, you can say it to my fucking face.”

The pavilion gasped.

“Girls-” Chiron began.

I wasn't done yet. I pushed the Ares girl back and glared down at her as she landed on her ass. “Who do you think you are? Accusing me of being something I’m not?”

She glared up at me and opened her mouth to say something.

“I’m still not done, bitch,” I spoke in a low tone. _I wish that something would keep her mouth shut._

A shadow tendril appeared behind her and wrapped around her head, forcing her mouth to close.

“Kendra!” The Ares girl’s buddy called out in a panic.

Kendra stared up at me with fear consuming her expression. Her body trembled as she scooted back.

“Nyome,” Trent called out hesitantly, “Calm down...take a breath.”

“What? Why?” I responded and I looked around.

Shadows were snaking around everywhere, surrounding the pavilion. Everyone was standing battle-ready and most of them looked like they were about to piss themselves. I looked back down to Kendra. “Let her go,” I ordered the shadow tendril and it obeyed, releasing Kendra and slithering to me, ready to obey another order. I looked around the pavilion. “Stop,” I barked and the other tendrils froze.

The pavilion gasped again and I noticed that they were staring above my head. I saw a glowing black and purple symbol of a crescent moon with a star almost being hugged by it. My heart dropped to the floor when I recognized who that symbol belonged to and I stared at it until it faded away. Chiron slammed his hoof on the floor and I, along with everyone else, stared at the pale centaur.

“All hail Nyome Walker,” He announced, “Daughter of the Primordial goddess of Night.”

“As if I wasn’t weird enough,” I muttered under my breath.

“It’s about time she claimed you,” A regal man’s voice sighed and a figure stepped out of the shadows.


	4. Chapter 4 Putting Salt On A Wound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive! Thank you guys for bearing with me. I just finished school but my final grades are iffy so....there's a large chance that you guys might not see me again for eons  
> For that I'm sorry  
> Now...  
> On with the story!

"Lord Hades," Chiron greeted the figure, his centaur half of his body kneeling in respect. Most of the campers followed his example, the exceptions being me, Percy, Nico, and Salem.

The Lord of the Underworld, hysterically, looked like Mick Jagger wearing black Greek robes. His black hair was shiny and long, and slicked back into a low ponytail. His eyes were also black and they didn't see, or already knew, what was coming next.

"Daddy!" Salem squealed and she glomped Hades.

The god was quick to put his hands up in a "I didn't touch her" gesture and he sighed with a tiny smile, "Hello Salem."

She didn't look like she was gonna let go anytime soon so Hades began heading towards me, the demigods parting for him like he had the Plague. 

I tried not to laugh at that thought and at the fact that Salem was koala-hugging Hades like it was the end of the world.

Nico and Percy were snickering at the sight, so I probably had a stupid "trying not to laugh" face on because of those two morons. Trent backed away and sat at the Hermes table when Hades was in front of me, and I glanced to the head of the Hermes cabin. He wouldn't meet my eyes and he pushed his food away, looking pale and constipated.

I stared into Hades's depthless eyes, and both of us were silent for a moment.

“Well...this isn’t awkward,” I commented as I folded my arms across my chest.

“You look nothing like your mother,” Hades noticed as he completely disregarded my comment, “And you’re such an old soul.” Was that fondness in his eyes?

“Thanks?”

Hades turned to Chiron. “Your Oracle girl, when will she return from the Roman Camp?”

Chiron cleared his throat. “She’ll be back in a week, Lord Hades, but if you-”

Hades’s sigh cut him off. “How inconvenient….I can’t afford to be away from the Underworld for that long with all the commotion…” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Salem, Nico, speak to the Oracle girl once she returns about any recent prophecies she deciphered.” He finally noticed my presence. “Daughter of Night-”

“My name is Nyome,” I interrupted, “I would appreciate it if you  _ used it _ .”

“ _ Nyome _ ,” Hades continued, “You are allowed to stay in my cabin where my children can keep an eye on you.”

“Fun.”

“Now, I have to go before the Underworld gets even  _ more _ chaotic.” He stared down at Salem. “Salem, let me go.”

“No,” Salem pouted.

“ _ Salem _ .”

“.... _ Fine _ !” She released him and stood beside me with a huff, “Bye Father.”

“Goodbye Salem.” He walked into the shadows and disappeared.

I stared at where he disappeared and then glared at the staring demigods. “Take a picture, it lasts longer,” I snapped.

Every demigod returned to staring down at their food and continuing their conversation in hushed tones.

I looked to Salem and she stared back at me, almost analytical. Then she raised her chin and produced a regal air about her.

"After dinner we're moving your stuff to cabin 13," She told me and walked off to the Hades table where Nico had sat down and watched us. I sighed and went to Trent to snatch his apple. When I got close to him and moved my arm out to grab the apple, he flinched away and I pulled back.

"Never mind. I'm not hungry anymore," I muttered and stalked off to the Hermes cabin to get my things packed up so I could move them again. I stopped halfway when the edges of my vision blurred and I blinked rapidly. I'm not going to cry and I'll be damned to cry over something that usually doesn't bother me. I should be used to people avoiding me by now, so Trent's reaction shouldn't be any different.

But it still stung.

I shook my head, blinked my vision clear, and focused on the clockwork motion of folding my clothes and putting them away as as well as grabbing my knick knacks and putting them in the box.  _ Don’t think about that. A crush is a crush, _ I scolded myself and I took inventory of everything before grabbing my suitcase and box and hauled it out of cabin 11.  I stopped when I heard the other campers packing up their dishes and I high-tailed it to cabin 13 before I was caught in the crowd heading to the campfire.

I won’t being joining this campfire either.

I shuffled the cabin door open, shut it closed with my butt, and sighed as I looked about the Hades cabin, dropping my stuff. It was definitely gloomy, and probably dark (it’s hard to tell with my night vision). When I took a step into the cabin, a black chandelier with candles suddenly lit up with green, otherworldly flames. The flames casted a dim glow over the obsidian walls and I knew right away that the cabin was finishing up renovations. There was a cabin bea in the shape of a coffin with blood red pillows and sheets (So the kids must sleep like the dead! Hahaha! I crack myself up) but the rest were cabin beds that still kept the blood red pillows but the sheets were black with silver and red trims and the frames that held the beds were elegantly framed like those four-poster bed frames you see in the prince/princess’s room in movies. To the far wall of the room there was a small shrine decorated with bones and jewels.

It was a pretty fancy cabin. Which to be expected for the God of Wealth, as well as the Underworld.

I felt pretty comfortable here, which made me feel a bit better. I mean, the Hermes cabin was homey and the kids were great but here just felt more like  _ home _ .

“It’s so beautiful,” I admired as I studied the shrine’s jewels, not daring to touch them. Hades gave me a place, I can’t piss him off now.

“Thank you,” A male’s voice behind me said, “I designed most of it myself. Except the coffin bed, that one will go pretty soon once the necessary materials arrive to make the last bed.”

I jumped and turned around to see Nico leaning against the doorway. I put a hand over my heart. “I almost had a heart attack,” I chided and I went over to grab my stuff, “Which bed is free?”

“Most of them. It’s just Salem and me in here, with Hazel staying over whenever she visits sometimes. My bunk is there,” He jerked his chin to the bottom right bed that had the elegant frames, “Salem’s is the one above me. Hazel usually takes the bunk next to mine,” He motioned to the set of beds behind his and Salem’s, “So the rest is yours to pick.”

I looked to the bottom bunk on my right and plopped my stuff on the coffin bed. “I choose this one then.”

“The coffin bed? Seriously?”

“It’s the last bottom bunk available!”

Nico stared at me, his scowl lightening up a smidgen. “Need any help unpacking?”

I shook my head and put my suitcase under the bed and put my box on top and I opened it. “You can help if you want but I don’t have much,” I answered as I pulled out my little knick knacks and a picture frame. I stared down at it: it was a photo of Christopher and I with my grandma, Chiyoko. 

Yeah, I have Japanese roots even though my name doesn’t sound like it. My grandma’s parents immigrated to America in 1939, and a couple of months later my grandma was born. She was two when the Pearl Harbor attack happened, which she doesn’t remember. In 1964, the last year of the baby boom, Chiyoko married a man named Clifford Walker and had Christopher. When Christopher was 35, he and my Mom, Nyx apparently, had me. I never knew Clifford, he died of a heart attack before I was born. Grandma Chiyoko took care of me whenever he ran late from meetings or had to stay late to clean and close his club. She taught me Japanese and called me “Maiko”, which means “dancing child” since Nyome isn’t an easy name to nickname and I called her “sobo” or “grandmother,” otherwise she would yell at me for disrespecting her for not using the proper title.

In the photo, I was 9 and in the middle hugging both Christopher and Chiyoko with a huge grin and my black hair long and straight. Christopher had his hair a bit longer when the picture was taken but it was slick greased back and he wore an awkward smile as he tried to pry my arm away from his neck. Sobo had a serene smile on her face, her brown eyes crinkling as she looked at the camera. 

A few months after the picture was taken, sobo died.

I placed the picture back in the box and I sat on my bed and stared at Nico.

“You’re not going to the campfire?” I asked to break the awkward silence.

“No I’m going to sit here and bake a fucking cake,” Nico responded with an eyeroll.

His neutral tone made me lose it. I was hugging my sides with laughter and trying not to fall off of my bed. Once I calmed down, I rubbed my eyes clear of tears and looked to Nico, who was giving me a strange look as he stared at me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, sobering up instantly.

Nico blinked and he looked away. “Nothing,” He answered but I knew he was lying. His shadow flared after he said that.

But I didn’t pry.

“Alright.”

Then we sat in silence. I stood up and I grabbed my pajamas from my suitcase. “Don’t look,” I said as I turned my back to Nico and changed. We’re all mature and ,technically, siblings so it wasn’t too awkward. Just as I threw on my Rainbow Dash pajama shirt, the cabin door opened.

"What the fuck are you guys doing?" Salem's voice asked as I snapped my head in her direction while holding up a pair of avengers boxer shorts to change into.

"Um, getting ready for bed?" I responded as I slid the shorts on.

"Keeping an eye on Nyome," Nico answered with his back turned to both of us.

"You can turn around Nico," I assured the dark-haired male.

He turned around and gave us both a scowl.

"You're missing the campers dancing around the campfire," Salem told both of us and she pinpointed her emerald green gaze on me, "You're going to dance with me, Nyome. It's new kid initiation."

Nico scoffed and snickered.

I frowned. "But I'm wearing my pjs..."

Nico opened his mouth to say something when Salem beat him to it.

"Don't care," Salem said and she grabbed my hand and started to drag me out. “Nico, come along too. Your boyfriend is waiting for you.”

“ _ Salem! _ ” Nico hissed but he stomped out of the cabin, grumbling under his breath as his pale skin took on a red hue. He looks so adorable when he’s blushing.

I let her force me out of the cabin and towards the campfire where a group of campers were flailing around the fire along to a very nice beat that the Apollo campers were playing and laughing their heads off. When Salem and I arrived at the scene, everyone quieted and the kids fooling around slowed to a stop and stared at us...well me specifically. I felt their stares burning on my skin and judging their expressions, and the way their shadows were reflecting their owners’ cautious thoughts made me want to go back to the Hades cabin and practically scream.

But I’ve been known to tackle things head-on.

“Aw come on guys, you had a great beat going!” I whined as I stepped closer to the fire. The flames were changing from it’s bright orange color to a more somber gray color. I turned to the Apollo campers. “Hey, can you put the beat back on? Please?”

Will, who was cuddled up to Nico’s side, smiled at me and nodded. “Sure thing!” He said and he began to pat the bongos, resuming the beat from before and I nodded along. The beat was medium-paced, and tribal-like: a perfect beat for belly-dancing.

I took my shirt and knotted up the back, a shadow tendril snaking out and holding the clump of shirt together like an elastic so that my stomach was exposed and I started to sway my hips to the tempo to get a feel for the beat. That didn’t last long, soon I was performing my shimmies and twirling around the fire in graceful movements. My stomach sucking in and dropping along with the beat Will was playing. I heard other Apollo campers joining in, adding to the beat and I smiled when they increased the tempo.

They wanted to test me on my dancing ability.

I giggled as I adjusted to their changing tempo, and I didn’t notice Salem smirking and joining in, or the somber fire changing back into its orange hue, but a darker shade than the one before to show the crowd’s fascination.

My bellydancing was a hobby that I forced Christopher to let me start five years ago when I didn’t want to do kickboxing anymore. Now that I know I’m a demigod, I get why he was reluctant for me to stop. I needed to know how to defend myself when a monster attacked, but when I was 11 I didn’t care what he thought; I thought he was just being a jerk. My ADHD was being medicated, but everyone knows the saying about idle hands. Even though I looked like a troublemaker, Christopher actually made sure that I always had something to do so I wouldn’t live up to my appearance. He was  _ shocked _ that I wanted to bellydance, and surprised when he found out that dancing was actually a talent of mine, well that made it easier to convince him that I  _ needed _ to take those bellydancing classes.

Despite being in those classes, I didn’t make any friends. Sure, I spoke to the other people in that class but it was pretty much adults there. The instructor was really awkward about me being there, and she kept a super close eye on me. I got along with the other adults well enough to dance with them in group numbers, and that had the instructor introduced me to the belly dancing competitions.

Man did I kill those competitions….not really.

I made it to the Nationals and the final rounds but I didn’t get first place until a couple of years ago.

Let’s get back to the story before I go off on a tangent.

I snapped out of my dancing trance to notice how Salem and I danced so harmoniously and I grinned, locking eyes with her. Salem returned my grin with a small smile of her own and we continued dancing as the crowd cheered and gasped. When the music came to a close, Salem and I were across from each other with the orange fire burning brightly between us and the crowd went  _ wild _ .

Glad to know that I ended the day on a good note.

A minute passed of campers trying to talk to me and complimenting my dancing, and they were keen on avoiding Salem because her aura screamed “leave me alone.”

Lucky her.

I was stuck amongst fangirling demigods. I raised my hands in surrendering gesture and I tried to find Nico almost instinctually, and when we locked eyes I mouthed “help me.” Nico shoved through the crowd and came to my side and grabbed my wrist.

“Enough guys! Goodnight,” He snapped and the campers took the hint and backed off.

I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding as Nico dragged me away and Salem joined us. “Thank you,” I whispered to Nico.

He just grunted and he turned to Will. “Goodnight Will,” He said with a significantly gentler tone.

Will grinned. “‘Night Nico! Sweet dreams!”

The three of us almost sprinted to cabin 13 and I plopped face-first onto my bunk.

“Thank you so much Nico,” I thanked and I felt an awkward pat on my back.

“No problem,” He muttered and I heard a bed squeak and I assumed that Nico got on to his bunk bed.

“You’re a very good dancer Nyome,” Salem complimented.

I lifted my head and smiled. “Thanks Salem! Same to you!” I laid on my back and stared at the bed above me. “Goodnight guys.” I closed my eyes and listened.

Nico said his goodnights and I heard shuffling and then a light snoring soon after. Another squeak and shuffling and I assumed Salem went to sleep as well. I stared at the bottom of the bunk above me and a surge of dread settled itself in my gut. Without anyone awake, I was alone with my thoughts and that's never a good thing. I didn’t want to grab my ipod because 1) I would wake Nico and Salem up from all the shuffling to find it and 2) I’m too lazy. So I did what Christopher would yell at me to do: close my eyes and sleep.

I closed my eyes and tossed and turned for gods knows how long.

Then suddenly I found myself beside the ashen woman on a midnight black chariot. I looked ahead to see the smoky skeletal pegasi flying, pulling the chariot through the night sky: one of them snickered and looked behind to look its gaze with me before snorting and focusing on the path ahead. My hands clenched onto the cold, black metal as I felt my chest constrict as I realized that I’m in the  _ fucking sky _ .

“Nyome,” A female’s satin voice called out. Each syllable rang like chimes and her voice was soothing, like a lullaby to whisk you into sleep. “Look upon me child. You are only dreaming; you are not actually in flight.”

I turned to the source of the calming voice: the ashen woman. I stared into her white eyes and another realization struck me. “Nyx,” I identified her.

Nyx’s black hair whipped viciously and she frowned a bit. “Names are powerful, child...especially mine. It would be better if you call me Night.”

A wave of emotions crashed over me: hurt, happiness, grief, relief, nervousness, anger, hatred and several others. Hate and anger reigned superior to the other emotions, with hurt and grief following closely behind.  _ Who does she think she is? Sixteen years of nothing and she thinks she can boss me around? _ “Well I’m going to call you Nyx. Suck it up buttercup,” I spat.

Nyx sighed and she placed a hand on my shoulder. She released another sigh as I tensed under her chilly, but soothing, touch. “Nyome, you must realize this: I am a Goddess, a  _ Primordial  _ Goddess, and the rules are especially strict with me. The gods cannot interfere with their children, and the cannot form personal bonds with them either. Whatever anger you hold towards me for not giving you attention, release it because I could not be there for you. The ability to form and hold grudges is not something I want you to have.”

“I’ll feel whatever I want to feel about you,  _ Mother _ . I thought you were  _ dead _ because of  _ me _ ! Do you know how damaging survivor’s guilt is to a child?”

An awkward silence permeated through the atmosphere as Nyx and I stared at each other. I felt the tears forming in my eyes but I blinked rapidly to keep them at bay.

“Nyome…” Nyx whispered and I could practically feel the sympathy in the words.

“Don’t!” I snapped and I shook her hand off of my shoulder and I glared at her, feeling my chest constrict again and panic starting to consume my veins. “I’m here for a reason right? ‘Cause you can’t bond with me? Tell me what I’m here for so I can go.”

Nyx placed her hand on my left cheek instead, and the constriction and panic vanished. “I only have some advice,” She looked around as if to make sure that no one was eavesdropping, or to make sure we wouldn’t get caught, “Mercy is your greatest weapon; take advantage whenever you can.” Nyx moved closer and she stared into my eyes. “Your eyes have seen more than your lifetime...make good use of them.” She stroked my cheek with her thumb, but I could see in her expression that she wanted to do more. “Until Olympus.”

My eyes snapped open and I sat up in my bed with a gasp. When I heard Salem move in her sleep, I smacked my hand my mouth, made my breathing shallower, and prayed that she stayed asleep. After I counted to 10 in my head, I laid back down and covered my face with my pillow and sobbed the night away as a strange wave of ancient grief came over me.


End file.
